Container spout

ABSTRACT

A pouring spout removably mounted on a container, as a paint can, having an upwardly directed circular lip surrounding the open top of the container. The spout is a one piece pliable plastic member having a base with an arcuate groove with a radius of curvature larger than the radius of curvature of the container lip and a sheet chute member attached to the base. The chute member is flexed to a generally U shaped trough configuration when the base is mounted on the lip of the container.

United States Patent Olsson CONTAINER SPOUT [72] Inventor: Sven O.Olsson, 7708 Glasgow Drive, Minneapolis, Minn. 55435 [22] Filed: Oct.26, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 83,930

[52] US. Cl ..222/570 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 5/72 [58] Field of Search..222/570; 220/855 P, 90

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,657,838 1 11/1953 Krameret al. ..222/570 X 1,952,288 3/1934 Saxon ..220/855 P 3,221,955 12/1965Banaszak et a]. ..222/570 2,071,638 2/ 1937 Lauterbach ..222/570 X2,722,347 11/1955 l-lenke ..222/570 3,463,366 8/1969 Spencer ..222/57051 Oct.3,1972

Haverstick ..222/5 70 X Giannone ..222/5 70 Primary Examiner-Samuel F.Coleman Assistant Examine rNorman L. Stack, Jr. Attorney-Burd, Braddock& Bartz [5 7] ABSTRACT A pouring spout removably mounted on a container,as a paint can, having an upwardly directed circular lip surrounding theopen top of the container. The spout is a one piece pliable plasticmember having a base with an arcuate groove with a radius of curvaturelarger than the radius of curvature of the container lip and a sheetchute member attached to the base. The chute member is flexed to agenerally U shaped trough configuration when the base is mounted on thelip of thecontainer.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures CONTAINER SPOUT BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 7Conventional containers for materials and liquids have a generally Ushaped annular sealing groove for, receiving a cover to close thecontainer. An example of this type of container is a paint can having asealing groove and a circular lip terminating on an annular beadsurrounding the top opening of the can. In the process of mixing andpouring paint from a can it is practically impossible to prevent paintfrom accumulating in the sealing groove and running down the outside ofthe can. The top of the pail does not serve as a guide or function as apouring spout to minimize the spilling of the paint. This problem ispresent in many containers that are used to store fluids and likematerials.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention is directed to a spout adapted to bereleasably mounted on a container to serve as a pouring spout as well asa means to scrape clean or wipe the contents of the container from atool such as a paint brush. The spout has a base means and chute meansattached to the base means. The base means includes an attachingstructure to releasably mount the spout on the container adjacent theopening of the container. The base has an arcuate groove for receivingthe bead and lip of the container in a manner so that the con tents ofthe container do not spill into the sealing groove for the cover of thecontainer and run on the outside surface of the container.

The chute means comprises a generally flat sheet like member attached tothe base means. When the base means is mounted on the container, thechute means is flexed or bent into a generally U shaped or trough likeextension which serves as a guide for pouring the contents from thecontainer. The chute means has an upper edge which also functions as ascraping edge to clean and wipe off tools whereby the excess materialflows back down the chute means and into the container.

The arcuate groove in the base means has a radius of curvature which .islarger than the radius of curvature than the container bead so thatwhenthe spout is mounted on the container bead the chute means is flexedinto a generally U shaped trough configuration. The lower portions ofthe opposite sides of the chute means have upwardly directed side wallsto direct the contents remaining on the chute means back into thecontainer and prevent the contents from entering into the sealing grooveof the container.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the spout of theinvention mounted on the lip of a container;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the spout;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3and;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line S-5 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing as shown in FIG. 1, the spout of the inventionindicated generally at mounted on a container 11, as a paint can orpail. The

container 11 is shown as a conventional gallon pail or can for storingpaint, food products, oil, chemicals, granular materials and the like.The spout 10 is usable with different sized containers, as a quart can,for directing the contents of the container in a defined and controlledmanner. Container 11 has an opened top or mouth 12 surrounded by anupwardly directed circular lip 13. The lip 13 terminates in a circularbead 14. Located outwardly around the lip 13 is a sealing groove 16adapted to receive a downwardly directed annular portion of the cover(not shown) for the container.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the spout 10 is a one piece, generallyflat, and flexible or pliable member. Preferably, the spout 10 is a onepiece molded plastic member made of flexible low cost plastic material,as a low density polyethylene and like material. The chute 10 has anarcuate base 17 and a chute member 18 joined to the convex side of thebase. The base 17 has an arcuate concave shape which faces the open topor mouth 12 of the container. The bottom side of the base 17 has anarcuate groove 19 having a generally square cross section configuration.Two arcuate continuous flanges 21 and 22 are located on opposite sidesof the groove 19. Arcuate flange 21 projects outwardly and downwardlyfrom the back side of the base. The lower face 21A of the flange 21functions as a locating means and guiding means for directing the bead14 of the container into the groove 19. The base 17 has a generallyoverall triangular cross section with an arcuate top face 23 extendeddown to the upper surface of the chute member 18. As shown in FIG. 3,the radius of curvature of the base 17 and groove 19 is substantiallylarger than the radius of curvature of the bead 14 of the container whenthe spout 10 is detached from the container. This relationship existswhen the spout 10 is in its generally flat shape. As a specific examplethe radius of the base 17 can be equal to the diameter ofthe bead 14.

Chute member 18 has a transverse top edge 24 and upwardly and inwardlytapering side edges 26 and 27. The bottom surface of the chute member 18is flat and continuous with the flat bottom of the base. The oppositesides of the lower portions of the chute member 18 have upwardlydirected side walls or gusset wedges 28 and 29 extended forwardly alongthe sides 26 and 27. These side walls 28 and 29 function as stops ordams to direct the material over the top face 23 and into the container.This prevents the material from flowing into the sealing groove 16.

In use, the spout 10 is snapped onto the head 14 of the container. Thebead 14 of the container is located adjacent the mouth of groove 19 bythe flange 21. The lower face 21A of the flange serves as a guidedirecting the bead 14 into the groove 19. The spout 10 being of flexiblematerial follows the curve of the bead 14 which is snapped into thegroove 19. The curvature of the groove 19 being larger than thecurvature of the bead 14 holds the flanges 21 and 22 in close sealingengagement with opposite sides of the lip 13. The chute means 18 isflexed or bent into a generally U shaped trough configuration extendingoutwardly at an angle at approximately 30 with respect to the horizontalplane at the top of the container.

The spout 10 can be formed with side ears or lugs 31 and 32 used toattach the spout to a display base or card. The ears 31 and 32 are madeof relatively thin plastic material so that they can be readily removedfrom the sides of the spout. The ears 31 and 32 are adapted to receivefasteners, as staples, to mount the spout on a display card. A number ofspouts can be attached to a single display card.

A specific example of the removably mounted spout of the invention isset forth in the following detailed description. The spout can haveother sizes and shapes. This spout is a one piece molded flexibleplastic member having a base of arcuate configuration approximately 7inches in circumference with a radius of 5% inches. The chute member isthree sixty-fourths of an inch sheet material having a top width of 5%inches and a bottom width of 6% inches. The sides 26 and 27 are 2%inches long. The side walls 28 and 29 extend approximately 1 inchupwardly from the center of the base means 17. The groove 19 is a %-inchdiamond shaped having a depth of approximately one-eighth inch.

The above description and drawings are directed to a preferredembodiment of the spout. It is intended that various omissions,substitutions, changes in size, changes in dimensions and size of thematerials may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property ofprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A spout for a container having an opening and circular lip meanssurrounding the opening comprising: a one-piece flexible member having abase means, said base means having a generally arcuate shape, an outerconvex curved side and an arcuate groove to accommodate an arcuatesection of the lip means, said groove having a radius of curvaturelarger than the radius of curvature of the lip means, arcuate flangemeans on said base means extended along the outer convex side of saidgroove for guiding the lip means into the groove, and flexible generallyflat chute means attached to the outer convex side of the base means,said base means being releasably mounted on the circular lip of thecontainer means by placing the lip means in the groove whereby thecurvature of the base means is reduced and the chute means is flexed toa generally troughshaped configuration.

2. The spout of claim 1 wherein: the base means and chute means are aone piece flexible plastic member.

3. The spout of claim 1 wherein: the arcuate groove is open to the lowerside of the base means.

4. The spout of claim 1 wherein: the chute means is a generally flatmember having upwardly directed side walls at least on the lower portionof the opposite sides thereof.

5. The spout of claim 1 wherein: the chute means has upwardly directedside walls at least on the lower portions of the opposite sides thereof.

6. The spout of claim 1 wherein: the chute means has a generally lineartransverse top edge and inwardly tapering side edges.

7. The spout of claim 1 wherein: the groove has a generally square crosssectional configuration.

8. The spout of claim 1 wherein: the flange means has an inner faceprojected in an inward direction.

9. The spout of claim 8 wherein: said inner face forms with an arcuateportion of said base means an inlet opening of the groove, sald inletopenmg being th narrowest portion of said groove.

10. The spout of claim 9 wherein: the groove has a generally squarecross sectional configuration.

1. A spout for a container having an opening and circular lip meanssurrounding the opening comprising: a one-piece flexible member having abase means, said base means having a generally arcuate shape, an outerconvex curved side and an arcuate groove to accommodate an arcuatesection of the lip means, said groove having a radius of curvaturelarger than the radius of curvature of the lip means, arcuate flangemeans on said base means extended along the outer convex side of saidgroove for guiding the lip means into the groove, and flexible generallyflat chute means attached to the outer convex side of the base means,said base means being releasably mounted on the circular lip of thecontainer means by placing the lip means in the groove whereby thecurvature of the base means is reduced and the chute means is flexed toa generally trough-shaped configuration.
 2. The spout of claim 1wherein: the base means and chute means are a one piece flexible plasticmember.
 3. The spout of claim 1 wherein: the arcuate groove is open tothe lower side of the base means.
 4. The spout of claim 1 wherein: thechute means is a generally flat member having upwardly directed sidewalls at least on the lower portion of the opposite sides thereof. 5.The spout of claim 1 wherein: the chute means has upwardly directed sidewalls at least on the lower portions of the opposite sides thereof. 6.The spout of claim 1 wherein: the chute means has a generally lineartransverse top edge and inwardly tapering side edges.
 7. The spout ofclaim 1 wherein: the groove has a generally square cross sectionalconfiguration.
 8. The spout of claim 1 wherein: the flange means has aninner face projected in an inward direction.
 9. The spout of claim 8wherein: said inner face forms with an arcuate portion of said basemeans an inlet opening of the groove, said inlet opening being thenarrowest portion of said groove.
 10. The spout of claim 9 wherein: thegroove has a generally square cross sectional configuration.